The present invention relates to the structure of a beater for a drum pedal and particularly to the support for the beater body to enable optimum sound production.
An example of an ordinary drum pedal 100 is shown as FIGS. 10 and 11. The drum pedal 100 comprises a beater 110, an operating part 120 and a pedal 130. The pedal 100 is fixed to a bass drum 140 by a fixing member 105, such as a known clamp. The drum pedal has a base, which is connected to a support 102. A spring 103 returns the beater to its retracted position.
The beater 110 comprises a rod 111 and a main beater body 112 on the rod. The rod 111 is fixed to the beater rotary shaft 121 of the operating part 120. The main beater body 112 is made of felt. The rod 111 runs through the body 112 and the body 112 is installed at the tip of the rod 111 by a nut 113.
The operating part 120 is comprised of the horizontal beater pivot shaft 121, a wheel 122 mounted on and rotatable with the shaft 121 and a chain 123 trained on the wheel 122 and operable to rotate it. The beater pivot shaft 121 is supported horizontally and freely rotatably at the top of the support 102. The rod 111 and the wheel 122 which rotates integrally with the rod 111 are provided on the shaft 121.
The wheel 122 comprises a sprocket or a partial sprocket, and the chain 123 has an end which is fixed to the wheel 122 and is wound on its outer periphery. The other end of the chain 123 is connected to the free swinging tip of a foot pedal 131 of the pedal 130. As the foot pedal 131 is stepped on, the chain 123 is pulled down, which rotates the wheel 122 and the rod 111, thereby causing the main beater body 112 to beat the drum head 141 of the bass drum 140.
The main beater body 112 of the beater 110 beats against the drum head 141 only at a point on one edge of the beater body, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 11. As a result, the impact of the beating is weak, and it is difficult to obtain a powerful sound. This usually undesirable situation is normally compensated for by slightly tilting the bass drum 140 so that the drum head 141 may become parallel with the beating face of the beater body or by changing the shape of the main beater body 112 of the beater so that the drum head may be struck by the entire beating surface. Although such a method is capable of obtaining the desired beating effect on the surface of the drum head at a position in a restricted height range, it requires readjustment when the position of the drum has been changed.
In some combinations with the drum, furthermore, the beating does not necessarily take place on the surface.